March 2018 Highlights

CT State EnConPolice

Eastern DistrictHighlights

March 2018

Boating Rescue / EnforcementOn March 29,2018, Officer Landry and Sergeant Dwyer responded to Gardner Lake, Salem, alongwith Gardner Lake Fire Department and other first responders for a 62 year oldmale who had capsized from a single person rowing scull. The victim had activated his inflatable lifejacket, but was unable to gain shore on his own.Officer Landry joined two Gardner Lake FDpersonnel in their rescue boat, retrieved the subject and brought him to shore,where he was taken by ambulance to Backus Hospital, Norwich.He remained overnight in guarded conditionsuffering from hypothermia, and was released the following day.The water temperature was about 41 degrees,and it was estimated the subject had been in the water 45 minutes to one hourbefore rescue; his initial core temperature at the hospital was under 90degrees.OfficerCurran responded on 3/17/18 to Cedar Lake, Chester, on a complaint of 3 malesin boats fishing during the closed season. Officer Curran located the crew in two separate manually propelledvessels, with no lifejackets aboard or being worn. In addition, two of thethree males did not have fishing licenses.Citations were issued to all three for the lifejacket violation, and totwo for fishing violations.Theirvoyages were terminated.Recreation Enforcement ActivityOn themorning of 3/4/ 18 Officer Ruggiero responded to Machimoodus StatePark, East Haddam, for a report of a vehicle overturned in a park pond.The owner lived nearby, and confirmed that noone was hurt or missing. He stated that he and a passenger had cut throughSunrise Resort into the park after hours the night before, going around closedgates, when the car throttle ‘stuck’ and he lost control, ending up in thepond.Both males were cited for trespassand vandalism, the vehicle was removed and towed.On 3/11/18Officer Pettus found three pickup trucks that had gone around closed gates inShenipsit State Forest, Somers, and cited all three for operation on trails.She also ticketed a vehicle blocking another Soapstone Mountain access road.On 3/15/18Officer Landry checked three males in their late teens returning from MillersPond to the parking lot in Haddam, and determined one was fishing without alicense, the other two were cited for marijuana violations.On 3/20/18Sergeant Dwyer responded to a direct complaint of illegal shooting adjacent toGay City State Park, Hebron / Bolton area. Sergeant Dwyer and Officer Landry had responded in December 2017 for asimilar complaint, and at that time had warned the property owner and hisfriend that the area where they had been target shooting was immediatelyadjacent to state park property, had no backstop and were shooting toward thepark.On this date Sergeant Dwyer wasnotified the same activity was occurring by the same owner at the samelocation, and that the subject had left the property minutes before hisarrival.The subject’s vehicle waslocated a few minutes away, at which time the subject was found with a shotgunand spent shells in his vehicle and admitted to shooting toward the parkwithout concern for potential park patrons and hikers beyond his targets.He was arrested for Reckless Endangerment 2nddegree, Breach of Peace and Unlawful Discharge, and was released on a $500 cashbond to appear in Rockville superior court.ATV EnforcementOn 3/4/18complaints were received of 40-50 ATVs travelling rural roads in Staffordtoward Nipmuck State Forest, Willington. Officers Danielson, Pettus and Sergeant Dwyer responded to the generalarea, found eight offending vehicles and operators, and issued citations forunregistered operation.On 3/18/18Officer Landry responded Pachaug State Forest / Newport Road, Sterling, on acomplaint of 6-7 ATVs illegally traveling the forest and local roads. One offender was located at a nearbyresidence and cited for illegal operation.On 3/25/18at about the same location, Officers Danielson, Tavares, Williams, and SergeantDwyer were conducting ATV enforcement in Pachaug SF, Sterling. While issuingout citations to nine ATV offenders three male operators on dirt bikes camedown the road toward Officer Danielson and Sergeant Dwyer. While two of the operators avoided theofficers, the 3rd operator went toward Officer Danielson, turnedaround and drove directly toward Sergeant Dwyer, threatening to strike him ashis movement was limited by a building.As the subject passed, Sergeant Dwyer deployed his Taser at the subject’sright leg; the subject continued on down the road.Several minutes later Officer Williamslocated all three subjects – Rhode Island natives – loading their dirt bikesinto a vehicle.They admitted to beingthe three operators who had come at the officers earlier, and a 20 year oldmale freely confessed he had driven his bike at Sergeant Dwyer.He stated he was not affected by the Taser;emergency medical services were summoned, and treatment was refused by thesubject.Two were cited for numerous ATVviolations; the 20 year old male was arrested and processed at State Policebarracks in Danielson, charged with criminal attempt at assault on a policeofficer, interfering/resisting, and disorderly conduct.His dirt bike was seized, and he was releasedon a $5000 surety bond for a later court appearance.

Public Outreach Events / Drills /TrainingEasternDistrict officers participated in various outreach events, training anddrills. Officer Vroman attended aKillingly High School Career Day; Officer Ruggiero instructed hunting laws at aDurham CE/FS course.Officers alsoattended a Dallas Safari Club Northeast chapter exhibition in Uncasville, andinstructed a safe boating course in North Branford.Districtofficers Curran and Williams participated in a FEMA-evaluated radiation drillat the Millstone nuclear facility on 3/20 with the DEEP RadiationDivision. Officer Tefft was aparticipant in a March Gardner Lake Fire Department drill of a mass casualtyEMS incident at the state launch.All officersparticipated in scenario-based shooting training using the Blue Line firearmstraining system; also, district officers completed training in personalradiation detector deployment and reporting.

CT State EnConPolice

Marine DistrictHighlights

March 2018

On 3/5/18 SergeantStone was patrolling the Housatonic River in Fairfield conducting commercialoyster harvesting. This area isprohibited, commercial vessels engaged in harvesting oysters must have theproper commercial license and permits needed by the Department of Agricultureand Department of Aquaculture.Inaddition, all commercial harvesters are required to call into DEEP Dispatchprior to engaging in commercial harvesting of oysters to report their starttime and end times.Sergeant Stonechecked with DEEP Dispatch and determined that one individual vessel had notcalled in as required.It has been pastpractice for some vessel captains to avoid calling in and taking their harvestdirectly to market prior to a six month depuration requirement.Sergeant Stone met up with the vessel captainwho related he had forgot to call in that morning.It was verified that the vessel captain hadrelocated his catch onto an approved shellfish bed for the required depurationperiod. He was issued a written warning for failure to call his relay activityinto DEEP Dispatch.On 3/19/18EnCon Officers responded to a residence in the town of Westbrook for a reportof a bobcat that was being held as a pet in the homeowners bedroom. The responsible party in possession of thecat had related information to an EnCon Officer over the phone that it was aPixi Bob, a domesticated breed of cat bred down for the progeny ofbobcat/domestic cat hybrids usually weighing between 10-15 lbs.Upon arrival to the residence, EnCon Officerswere let into the residence by the homeowner, observed the cat and identifiedit as bobcat.It should be noted thatthe bobcat was not caged and was allowed to roam the bedroom freely, it wasestimated to weighing over 30 lbs.EnConOfficers captured the bobcat using catch-poles and secured it in a large cage.The owner of the bobcat returned home andrelated he had purchased the bobcat in Montana several years ago as a kitten,was giving it “vaccinations” and claimed it was a therapy cat for his medicalcondition.The owner was issued aMisdemeanor Summons for illegal possession of an exotic species with a court setdate in April.The female bobcat waslater weighed and confirmed at 42 pounds.On 3/20/18 EnCon Officer Nivolo was traveling northbound on RT 8 when heoverheard a state police radio transmission regarding a suicidal male sittingon the rail of the Lindley Street Bridge.Officer Nivolo relayed back to CSP that he was in the area and that hewould respond.Within seconds OfficerNivolo was the first on scene and was faced with an irate upset individualyelling and screaming at him to stay back.Officer Nivolo kept his distance and began talking with the individualuntil back up units from State Police and Bridgeport PD arrived on scene.Responding officers formed a semi-circlearound the individual at which time one officer ran towards him, grabbed him,before he could jump into the river.Astruggle ensued and Officer Nivolo was able to assist in subduing andrestraining the individual.The individualwas then transported to a local area hospital for a medical / psychological evaluation.During themonth of March EnCon Officers in the Marine District conducted several PublicOutreaches of which included Hunting Law Updates to new police academy recruitsand certified police officers around the state as well as attended the boatingshow.

CT StateEnCon Police

Western DistrictHighlights

March2018

PARK AND FOREST

On 3/29/18 Officer Kiely wasconducting a patrol check of Osbornedale State Park in Derby when he observed ablue colored Toyota Vensa enter the park. Upon the operator seeingOfficer Kiely parked near the entrance, the vehicle quickly turned into aparking stall, backed up, and exited from the park. Officer Kiely noticedthat the vehicle had a plastic attachment on the registration plate obscuringthe lettering “Connecticut” and “Constitution State”. A NCIC/COLLECTcheck revealed the registered owner had an active court order to stay out ofOsbornedale State Park for a period of two years. The court orderoriginated from an arrest in 2016 of the registered owner by Encon Police in2016 for Sex Assault in the 4th degree. Officer Kiely conducted a motorvehicle stop and confirmed the identity of the operator as the registered ownerand respondent of the court order. Derby Adult Probation Office wasadvised and instructed the accused to report immediately to their office. The accused was issued an infraction for violation of Entry into State Parkduring eviction period, and Improper attachment on registration plate. The findings of this investigation were forwarded to Derby Adult Probation.

WILDLIFE

On 03/27/2018 Northwest officerswere notified by a local bird hospital that a Red Tailed Hawk in their care hadto be euthanized due to injuries from being shot. On 3/27/18 thehawk had been recovered in Hartford by a rehabilitator. Investigating officersutilized the Hartford Police City Wide surveillance unit, which monitors all ofthe surveillance cameras city wide. Evidence was developed and videoviewed of the hawk being brought to the area of Jennings Rd. in Hartfordon 03/22/18. The hawk was injured, and remained in that area until 03/27/18when authorities were notified by a Good Samaritan. Further investigationrevealed that the hawk was last seen airborne in Farmington, on the New Britaintown line. It is believed to have been shot by a shotgun with birdshotsomewhere in the area of Rt. 9 and Rt. 372. This investigation isongoing.

K-9CALLS FOR SERVICE

On/3/20/18Officer Flockhart and K-9 Ellie responded to a possible Search & Rescue fora suicidal male inNepaug State Forest in New Hartford. Inaddition all on duty Northwest personnel responded to the State Police requestfor assistance in locating the individual. The search on DEEP propertyconcluded fairly quickly when information was obtained that he was believed tobe heading out of state and towards the state of Pennsylvania.

However, I have a serious problem with the 'improper attachment to a registration plate'. If not every then nearly every car is sold with one. If they are illegal why are cars allowed to be sold with them? Also, given that nearly every car on the road has one why are more people not cited for it? I would say most people have no idea these are illegal so perhaps the state should be doing an awareness campaign as well as making dealers comply with the law from the outset.